Mechanicville native Chad Brown seeks first Travers win

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY (NEWS10) -- Travers week is underway at the Saratoga Race Course and there are a ton of storylines heading into Saturday's Travers Stakes. Thorpedo Anna will look to become the first filly to win the Travers since 1915. Then there's trainer Chad Brown, the Mechanicville native, looking for his first Travers win, with a quarter of this year's field.

Brown has two of the eight horses in the field; Sierra Leone and Unmatched Wisdom. Sierra Leone is starting out of the two post, after finishing in the top three in his past three races. He finished in second in the Kentucky Derby, third in the Belmont Stakes, and most recently second in the Jim Dandy.

Sierra Leone is 7-2 on the morning line with Flavien Prat in the saddle. Brown likes this spot for Sierra Leone to break through. "He's been a very consistent horse," said Brown. "He was narrowly beaten in the Kentucky Derby just by an inch. He always shows up and runs the best race he can. He's always right there. I love the post and we should get a good pace set up. I think a mile and a quarter is his best distance. Now that he has a couple of races over the track, I think that will work to his favor. I think the pace set ups better for him in this race."

Unmatched Wisdom will have Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard, 8-1 on the morning line. Unmatched Wisdom has won all three of his races. He won his first stakes race in his most recent effort, the Curlin Stakes on July 19 at Saratoga. This will be his first graded stakes race, but Brown believes there are two ways to look at that. "He's lacking some experience and there seems to be a few horses in this race that are running just a little bit faster and have much better foundation," said Brown. "On the other side, he's fresh legs in this race. He hasn't had all the workouts and all the races all year. We've seen in years past that sometimes the fresh horse is the one."

Chad Brown has won a lot of races at Saratoga. He's racked up six trainer titles, and currently leads this year's meet. There's no doubt, his first Travers win would be special. "It would mean so much to me personally and to my family and to my team," said Brown. "Growing up right here in Mechanicville and going to the track in the picnic area as a kid. My parents, my kids, my entire family will be here. I think it means a lot to the Capital Region to to bring home a Travers for the home team."

Post time for the Travers is set for 6:10 PM.